‘Star Trek’ Came Close To Getting a Las Vegas Resort, What Went Wrong?

Las Vegas already has replicas of the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and Egypt’s famed pyramids. A life-sized recreation of the U.S.S. Enterprise seems like the next obvious step in a very natural progression, right? Alas, that plan is not to be. Find out the plans and why it didn't happen below.

According to a widely-circulated story about how, in 1992, Gary Goddard was blocked from building a life-sized Enterprise on the Las Vegas skyline that would have invited Trekkies from far and wide to tour the inner workings of one of the most famous ships in science-fictions history.

"The 'big idea' was building the ship itself at full-scale. That was the main attraction,” Goddard claims (according to GeekTyrant). “That being said, we also knew we would have to have some kind of 'show' on board. So, conceptually, it was to be a 'tour' of the ship, with all of the key rooms, chambers, decks, and corridors that we knew from the movie. There was to be the dining area for the ship’s crew (where you could dine in Starfleet comfort), and other special features. There were also one or two interesting ride elements that we were considering including a high-speed travelator that would whisk you from deck to deck."

You had me at “Starfleet comfort.”

According to this rendering, the Enterprise would have been as long as the Queen Mary, and as tall – when standing up – as France’s actual Eiffel Tower. It would have come close to being as tall as the Empire State Building.

So what happened? Well, everyone appeared to be on board with the project, from Paramount’s Licensing Group to Las Vegas’ Redevelopment Committee. Goddard had one last hurdle: Paramount chief Stanley Gaffe. Unfortunately, he blocked the idea, saying that if the attraction was a failure (for whatever reason), he’d forever be associated with greenlighting a ‘Star Trek’ exhibit that flopped.

Now we’ll never know. But thanks to stories like this, Trekkies can dream of what might have been, if a studio executive had shown an ounce of faith, courage and trust in a time-tested, lucrative brand.